Southampton Publick House Double White
By Julia Burke, Beer Editor
Long Island brewery Southampton Publick House has arrived in western New York and I can't think of a nicer way to ring in the holidays than with this consistently impressive brewery's lineup of interesting and varied styles.
Double White pours a glowing sunrise-haze gold color and shows a brief one-finger head and beautiful bubbles. A clean, crisp nose with only a subtle whiff of cardamom and lemon and just a little bit of clementine give way as it opens to bready wheat character and citrusy Belgian yeast esters.
The mouthfeel is excellent -smooth, bready, just a touch sweet, and perfectly carbonated. Balance all around, especially in the alcohol department (as a "double" it's 6.6%, spot on for the level of complexity and perfectly integrated) makes this a great food match.
I've been on a crazy Chinese cooking kick lately and the pairing with pork fried rice or homemade steamed dumplings is fantastic. It's also, like many Southampton beers, a dynamite cheese pairing. This incredibly refreshing white is like a frigid-but sunny winter day: brisk and bracing and just the right thing to beat the blues of dwindling daylight hours.
Producer: Southampton Publick House
Style: Belgian witbier
ABV: 6.6%
Sample size: 12 oz. bottle
Stemware: V-pint glass
Price: $10/six pack
(3.5 out of 5 | Very Good, Recommended to Outstanding and Delicious, Highly Recommended)
This is a nice one. I wish it were a touch drier, but I guess it is a “double” so…
I used to see it on draft more often, but (at least in my area) it’s been squeezed out by less local offerings. Although, BP, GSB, and LI are on tap all over. I wonder why Southampton isn’t grabbing as many taps as the other locals? (Actually, I do have a few guesses about that.)
Oh, one more thing. This “double” white is getting less doublish over the years. When the Double White was part of Southampton’s Reserve Series, the ABV was up at 7.2%.
Donovan, I’d like to hear your thoughts about Southampton’s relative absence on local tap lists, either here or in person at W/BOTY! My firsthand knowledge of the LI beer bar scene is limited to my single trip there last year, and I’m very interested in your observations.
As to the lower ABV of the double white, it makes sense to create a slightly lower-alcohol brew for a regular lineup rather than a separate and, I assume, more expensive reserve series. I think a trend in general toward slightly lower alcohol and more sessionable brews in the industry would be welcome and will happen. I tasted my very first 2% ABV beer the other night and heard the bar manager say he couldn’t put the ABV up on the wall because “nobody would order it.” I think that is changing, but it starts with beer too good to pass up.